CORTLAND, N.Y.—SUNY Cortland (18-3, 12-2 SUNYAC) defeated the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team 83-68 on Friday night. Sophomore forward Devyn Elliott (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) scored 13 points and added six assists. Freshman guards Caroline LaFountain (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) and Bella Barner (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) each contributed nine.
 
Potsdam started strong, outscoring the Red Dragons 11-8 over the first 4:33 of the contest. LaFountain opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and scored five of the first 11. Freshman guard Tsai Lewis (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) had four points in the opening burst, impressing her hometown crowd. However, Cortland roared back to finish the opening 10 minutes with a 13-5 run and led 21-16. Elliott scored five points in the quarter as well.
 
The Red Dragons build a 28-20 lead after a Beth Bonin jumper two minutes into the second, but Elliott, LaFountain and freshman forward Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) scored in succession to close the gap to two. Cortland then slowly stretched its lead out again with a 12-8 edge as the first half expired and took a 40-34 advantage into the locker room. Hunter scored eight of Potsdam's 18 points in the quarter.
 
Potsdam wasn't able to gain ground in the third. Bonin set the tone for the Red Dragons with a three just 11 seconds in. A jumper from Elliott at 4:57 got the Bears within 46-42, but they couldn't get closer. Cortland finished with a 14-9 advantage and led 60-51 after 30 minutes. Elliott added 10 points to her total in the quarter.
 
The Red Dragons scored the first five points of the fourth to take a 65-51 lead with 8:04 left. Potsdam answered with a 10-5 run to get within 70-61 at 4:38, but Cortland pulled away again to close out the 83-68 victory.
 
The Bears shot well at 45-percent from the floor, but the Red Dragons were even hotter at 49-percent. Potsdam edged Cortland on the glass 38-35.
 
Bonin led all scorers with 32 points to go along with seven assists and six boards. Shannon McGuire scored 14 points for the Red Dragons and Nyia Longford had 13.
 
Potsdam heads to Oswego State tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a battle with the Lakers.